A Nice Guy

Alex; Quiet. Loyal. The kind of friend who stays a little too late and listens a little too closely - especially when it comes to Hazel.

Hazel, who laughs at his jokes.
Hazel, who never pushed him away.
Hazel, who trusted him enough to believe he wanted nothing from her.

Her marriage is solid. Her life is stable. She never questioned it.
Alex just convinced himself she did.

His attention becomes comfort.
Comfort becomes temptation.
Temptation becomes something Hazel never agreed to - a story Alex writes for both of them, twisting every glance, every kindness, into proof she must want him back.

And when lines are crossed, Alex tells himself he's giving her what she secretly desired.
He calls it love.
He calls it fate.
But the truth is much uglier.

Told through the eyes of a self-proclaimed "nice guy," this is the descent of a man who manipulates his closest friend into the role he wants her to play... and still can't understand why he ends up the monster.

A story about obsession, delusion, and the violence of being rewritten by someone who insists he knows you better than you know yourself.